The Study of Celtic Languages Abroad

The Study of Celtic Languages Abroad

The publication in 1853 of Johan Caspar Zeuss's Grammatica Celtica is generally accepted to have laid the foundation for the modern discipline of Celtic Studies. This work did not come into being in a vacuum. For well over a century prior to its publication an interest in Celts and in things Celtic was a marked part of the Romantic movement on the continent. This interest led to the phenomenon of 'Keltomania' in Germany and elsewhere. Due to some of the more outlandish claims made by certain writers with regard to the Celtic origins of European and in particular German place-names, scholars who had a greater understanding of language and history began the serious study of the evidence concerning the Celts. Grammatica Celtica was the scholarly and scientific response to this movement.

Its publication in turn inspired further interest in Celtic among philologists and established the European tradition of Celtic Studies. Scholars of ability and standing were attracted to the new discipline. University departments began to offer courses in Celtic and journals such as Revue Celtique and Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie were established. Among the many continental scholars who distinguished themselves in this field we find such luminaries as Kuno Meyer, Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Vendreyes, Carl Marstrander, AIf Sommerfelt, Holger Pedersen and many others, hailing from countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. Publications on aspects of Celtic Studies by scholars from other parts of Europe and from further afield were prominent in early issues of the journals.
Perhaps the most distinguished of the continental scholars was the Swiss-born Rudolf Thurneysen who, at the time of his death in 1940, was Professor at the University of Bonn. In a paper published in the March 1933 volume of the journal Studies, he addressed the question 'Why do Germans study Celtic Philology?' One of the main grounds he identified was the flexibility of the German education system of his time. Students entering a university were not required to take an examination until the end of their studies, after a period of from three to five years:

Thus the student has time and leisure to apply himself to subjects that have no direct bearing on his final examination. He is not only permitted, but encouraged, in his first semesters, to devote his attention to different branches of knowledge, that his outlook on life may become mature and broad.

Thurneysen distinguished three avenues of approach to Celtic Studies for Germans. The first of these was through the study of Celtic place-names found in different parts of Southern and Western Germany as well as in Switzerland and Austria. The second, and more popular according to Thurneysen, was through the study of language, particularly the study of Indo- European in which German scholarship played a leading role. Celtic represented the most westerly branch of Indo-European and the importance of Celtic evidence in reconstructing the parent language was recognised. The third avenue was that of literature, and in the study of poetry and tales in the Celtic languages.
Thurneysen's article was published over seventy years ago and while much has changed in the intervening period, some of the reasons why students chose Celtic in his day are still valid, not only in Germany but in other European universities outside of the Celtic countries.

Among the reasons students take Celtic studies today the following may be noted:

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  Linguistic Students may study early Celtic languages as part of a programme of study in Indo-European or they may study modern Celtic languages as part of a course on aspects of modern linguistics.
  
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  Literary Students may be attracted to the study of Celtic through the fields of comparative literature, Anglo-Irish studies, Scottish or Welsh literature in English, comparative mythology etc.
  

Other reasons would include:

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  Attraction to the language of one of the Celtic countries through having visited the country as a tourist;
  
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  Attraction to the language through 'Celtic' music, e.g. The Chieftains, Alan Stivell, Capercailie etc.
  
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  Attraction to the language for personal or family reasons. A parent may come from one of the Celtic countries or the student may have a boyfriend/girlfriend from one of the countries and may wish to learn the language.
  
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  Other students may study Celtic languages out of simple academic curiosity.
  
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  Another possible avenue is that of 'Celticism'. The prominence of the word 'Celtic' today and its positive connotations have inspired a great deal of interest in aspects of 'Celtic' heritage. This is perhaps most marked in the interest shown in 'neo-Celtic spiritualtity' and other such pursuits that find adherents in the New Age Movement. Some people who are so inspired may wish to undertake a more serious study of Celtic.
  

A minority of students study Celtic languages as part of their main degree. For many others it is studied out of interest and while it may not be essential for the career paths they follow, it certainly challenges and enriches them while broadening their outlook.

However, the flexibility and freedom obtaining in Thurneysen's time have in the interval been replaced in most countries by more examination-oriented procedures. Under the Bologna system, three years will now be the norm in undergraduate study in the Humanities. Students will take modules that will be weighted under the European Credit Transfer System, and assessment or examination of some kind will playa role in all courses. Yet even this system allows for students to take some modules outside their main fields of study.

It remains to be seen how these fundamental changes will impinge on the teaching of Celtic Studies abroad.